The Blackhawks put an end to a three-game losing streak and tried to pull out of their end-of-season tailspin by shutting out the Minnesota Wild last night 4-0. Tomas Kopecky scored the first (and game-winning) with just over a minute left in the first. Ben Eager added a goal in the second while Kopecky scored his second goal of the game early in the third. Jonathan Toews closed out the scoring with his 23rd goal of the year with about six minutes left to play. Antti Niemi turned around his efforts as well, stopping all 21 shots the Wild took to secure the shutout victory. The 'Hawks remain a solid second place in the Western Conference and trail the Sharks by just three points with six games left. Next up is a trip to Jersey on Friday to tangle with the Devils (6 p.m., CSN). more ›

Bulls Thump T-Wolves more ›

The Blackhawks threw a lot of money at an injured Marian Hossa this past off-season, but now that he's back at full-strength, it's starting to pay off. Hossa got two goals for the second straight game to help push the Blackhawks past the Minnesota Wild 4-1. The Wild struck first just over midway through the first period, but John Madden tied it up for the 'Hawks. Hossa scored the eventual game-winner halfway through the second period, and then Patrick Kane scored a power play goal early in the third followed by Hossa's second goal of the game to extend the lead. Huet had 19 saves in goal and the 'Hawks out-shot the Wild 33-20. The win puts the 'Hawks in sole possession of first place in the Western Conference and they'll try to extend their winning streak to five games when they visit the Bruins on Thursday (6 p.m., CSN). more ›

The Blackhawks have started in on another winning streak, taking their second game in a row courtesy a 3-1 victory over the Minnesota Wild last night at the United Center. Dave Bolland got the scoring started about midway through the first period and Troy Brouwer followed up with a power play goal late in the first to give the 'Hawks a 2-0 edge. Both teams went scoreless in the second, but the Wild cut the lead in half with a goal just a few minutes into the third period, an Andrew Burnette power play goal. The 'Hawks answered just a few minutes later as Patrick Kane showed some pretty nice skills in netting the 'Hawks third goal of the game. more ›

We'll hand it to the Blackhawks; it may not be a bear hell-bent on destruction, but we get a kick out of this commercial for next week's game against the Minnesota Wild, using Where The Wild Things Are for inspiration. more ›

The Blackhawks' December to Remember continues as they notched their ninth straight victory last night by beating the Minnesota Wild 4-1. Dustin Byfuglien had a pair of first period goals and Martin Havlat and Kris Versteeg added to the tally. Huet looked sharp in goal for the 'Hawks, stopping 13 of 14 shots. Jonathan Toews explained the 'Hawks state of mind thusly: "We're kind of feeling like the Boston Celtics...There's just a sense of calmness. I think any other team would be excited to be in this situation, and sometimes when you have that momentum you get a little overexcited. We just need to keep our sticks on the ice and keep it simple. We don't overskate or overdo anything out there." The Blackhawks travel to Detroit for a game tomorrow night and then welcome the Red Wings to Wrigley on Thursday for the NHL's much-hyped Winter Classic. more ›

Bulls Top Bucks In Opener more ›

Fresh Dill, for garnish (optional) more ›

There was an old man named Seuss, more ›

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Valentine's Day is nothing but a pre-fab holiday designed to get consumers to spend money on crap for each other ... especially if you're single. Instead of battling the hordes for a good table at a restaurant this evening, why not just order out from Art of Pizza, rent a movie and enjoy a few hours of twisted romance with one of these: more ›

Jesus, have things been busy lately, highlighted by the re-opening of Schwa last night. The Tribune recapped everything we've already read about the events surrounding Michael Carlson and company in recent months, from the killer dinner he prepared for Trotter, Adria, Blumenthal, and a host of culinary Illuminati; to closing Schwa the next day, then going into deep hiding to recharge and re-energize, and coming back. more ›

Let's take a look at some of the best live & local music in our fair city this week: more ›

The Shedd Aquarium is free through Friday, and Chicagoist can’t think of a more mesmerizing place to take your kids. more ›

We find that after doing scads of last-minute shopping, the best way to ensure "Peace on Earth, Good Will Toward Men" is to avoid the general public altogether. So one of our favorite parts of Christmastime involves shutting ourselves off from the outside world and gorging on movies. This time of year there's plenty of stuff to watch on Ye Old Yule Tube. TCM is getting into the Santa act by presenting "Sweet Home Chicago," a lineup of five films that starts airing tonight. more ›

It's still sunny and warm outside, so it's hard to believe the NHL has taken the ice again in preparation for a new season. Last year, Chicagoist made our yearly mistake of getting excited about the offseason moves and preseason successes of the Blackhawks, only to be let down once again. So this year we have vowed not to analyze the preseason too carefully and instead to wait to see how the Blackhawks look when... more ›

We were so excited about checking out the new Whole Foods Market in Boystown which opened last week, that we accidentally grabbed our Trader Joe’s reusable bag instead of our Whole Foods one (we figure it’s the thought that counts, right?). But walking around the large airy store with Michael Jackson’s “Wanna Be Starting Something” playing in the background, we quickly forgot all about our faux pas as well as that of Whole Foods CEO... more ›

While our White Sox managed to tie the KC Royals in the AL Central basement earlier this week, the Cubs are quickly closing in on the other end of the standings. Ted Lilly had another strong outing for the Cubs, who beat the St. Louis Cardinals 7-1 Wednesday night. With the win -- combined with the Milwaukee Brewers' loss -- moved the Cubs to within just two games of first in the NL Central. The... more ›

File this under "chutzpah." An antitrust lawsuit (Adobe PDF file) filed by the Federal Trade Commission this week against Whole Foods, which seeks to block the organic food giant's purchase of its closest competitor Wild Oats, revealed that anonymous postings to business and financial forums criticizing the price of Wild Oats stock were actually authored by Whole Foods CEO John Mackey. Mackey's postings, made under the name "radoheb" from 1999 to 2006, consistently criticized the... more ›

On this -- officially the slowest sports day of the year -- we will take the opportunity to look back at the first half (or so) of the season for the Cubs and Sox. Fans of both teams entered the season with high expectations. Has either team lived up to those expectations? Cubs After spending a ton of money on free agents during the off season, the Cubs sit in second place in the NL... more ›

Some fairy godmother at the Siskel must be granting wishes lately. Not only did they bring Helvetica to town and decide to mount an Antonioni series (including the radically awesome, hard-to-see Zabriskie Point) but now we've learned that next week they're launching "Lost Highways & Wild Hearts: The Films of David Lynch." Wild at heart and weird on top; or, as Gordon Cole might exclaim, "This is like some sort of miracle. A ...a phenomenon."... more ›

The Cubs held the White Sox to just two runs over three games, as they swept this weekend's series and ended up winning five of six overall in the crosstown showdown. Carlos Zambrano out dueled Mark Buehrle in Friday's game, limiting the Sox to one run and three hits as the Cubs won 5-1. The Sox bullpen let any chance for a comeback slip away by letting up three ninth inning runs. On Saturday, the... more ›

Memorial Day weekend is nigh! That means summer is officially here and girl-watching season is in full force. We thought we’d dedicate today’s EOYW to all the ladies who make summer worthwhile. Amanda Leigh Moore has been cultivating that girl next door image her entire life. We’re not sure how Mandy has managed to avoid the pitfalls of excess that other Hollywood divas her age seem to revel in, but this movie and television star... more ›

The National Restaurant Association trade show (we'll just call them the "good NRA") is still in full swing through tomorrow at McCormick Place. We went this weekend, took in some of the exhibits, marveled still at the sheer enormity of McCormick Place, and got enough Cholula samples to last us through the summer, or at least the next bloody mary, and our clothes reek of fried food. more ›

Tom T. Hall, in his classic song "I Like Beer," sang that one of the reasons he likes it is that "whiskey's too rough" and "vodka puts (his) mouth in gear." We completely grok the argument. One of the most common complaints among drinkers who can't or won't drink hard liquor straight is that it tastes like burning. But you don't need to scorch your vocal cords and wind up sounding like Jack Klugman to prove that you can hang with other spirits. more ›

Wal-Mart is reporting that the store that opened in Chicago has produced $2 million in state and local taxes and has created 443 jobs since it opened 6 months ago. The USPS in Chicago is hiring 200 more letter carriers. Comcast is buying Fandango and starting a website for watching TV and movies. Should the Lakeshore Athletic Club be a landmark? Some are saying it should after finding out that a prospective buyer wants... more ›

Attention: All you shoe-loving rap fans, all you jobless hipsters ... Time to put down the Cristal. Time to take off the ice for a minute ... As Miles Raymer reported yesterday on Crickets, Redman is scheduled to do a DJ set and a meet-and-greet from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. at St. Alfred in Wicker Park. So you know, if you don't have anything to do on a Wednesday afternoon, you might as well... more ›

We’ve got eggs on the brain at Chicagoist today. A few weeks ago, we told you about a wild goose chase sanctioned by park officials. Apparently the Canada goose population has gotten way out of hand, and the Chicago Park District enlisted some volunteers to help control that population. The public was invited to help out a team of goose control experts with finding nests and preventing the eggs therein from reaching maturity. Oddly enough, baseball bats and steel-toed Docs were not encouraged. more ›

Except for an art teacher over in Evergreen Park. Bruce Lupori, a sixth-grade teacher over at Southwest Elementary School allegedly participated in a "joke gone bad" whereby he apparently put a plastic bag (with a hole cut in it) over a student's head. The incident happened in February, but the school only heard about it when kids told administrators about it on March 23. That seems a little odd. Did they not tell because it... more ›

Download the original attachment We here in the Ist-A-Verse know that we're sensational, but it's very rare that we get a chance to be sensationalistic. This week, we've decided to have ourselves a little fun and try our hand at tacky tabloid headlines, using nothing more than our favorite posts from this week. Torontoist Special Report: Rosie to Trump: "Fire 300 Bicyclists for Fraud!" On DCist: Students Go Wild for Slogans, Secrets and Sexual Harassment... more ›